In what will be a world first for a cruise ship, Ponant’s 2024-2025 winter programme is now offering a breathtaking voyage through the ice of the St Lawrence River to pristine Québec and the Innu and Micmac communities of Canada.
Crafted with ample time for travellers to savour the expansive frozen landscapes adorned with glistening ice, immaculate white forests and illuminated by the captivating aurora borealis, the 13-day expedition promises an opportunity to relish some of the world’s most magnificent open spaces.
Guests are invited to experience an exceptional journey on board Le Commandant Charcot, the cutting-edge world’s only luxury icebreaker, fuelled by LNG and equipped with state-of-the-art technology, ensuring an unparalleled and unique adventure.
Hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, dog sledding and ice fishing is available for adventure seekers, allowing them to explore this enchanting and truly fascinating environment while potentially encountering the emblematic caribou, elk and black bears in their natural habitat.
Famous for the local peoples’ hospitality and friendly nature, this “region of a thousand customs” promises a voyage of a lifetime enriched by the warm welcome and ancestral traditions of the Innu people in Sept-Îles and the Micmacs in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Highlights of the Lawrence River journeys include outings and shore visits with a team of naturalist-guides; visits to traditional villages and chances to meet indigenous Innu and Micmac communities; the possibility of admiring the unique colours of the Northern Lights rippling across the sky; and chances to kayak, ice fish, taste raw rockfish, dog sled, ice climb, and skijor.
In Québec, there is also the opportunity to attend the world’s largest winter carnival, where ice decorations and sculptures and lightsform a magical spectacle (departures on 17 and 29 January 2025); and to see newborn whitecoat seals in the Magdalen Islands, the only place in the world where you can observe this unique scene. (departures 10 and 22 February 2025).
There are four sailing of this unique 12-night St Lawrence River in the heart of the Boreal Winter adventure, with sailings from January to February 2025.
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